Cost of living comparison

Lesotho

compared to

Maldives

Male vs. Maseru Cost of Living Summary

Male is 2.4 times more expensive than Maseru.

Restaurants: pay 20.6% less in Male
Groceries: pay 48.6% more in Male
Transportation: pay 62.3% more in Male
Housing: pay 6.1 times more in Male
Childcare: pay 3.2 times more in Male
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.6 times more in Male
Clothing: pay 9.3% less in Male

The cost of housing, childcare, entertainment and sports, transportation, and groceries in Male are more expensive than in Maseru. Expenses including restaurants and clothing are lower in Male. Notably, housing, childcare, and entertainment and sports are significantly more expensive in Male.

Male vs. Maseru Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Male instead of Maseru, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 20.6% less for restaurants

	Maseru	Male
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.52 LSL187.20	$5.56 MVR85.56	-51.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.07 LSL131.04	$9.80 MVR150.98	+21.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.33 LSL21.53	$1.45 MVR22.29	+9.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.79 LSL12.79	$0.31 MVR4.70	-61.3%
Average			-20.6%

Maseru vs. Male - Cost of restaurants

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pay 48.6% more for groceries

	Maseru	Male
Bread 1 loaf	$0.74 LSL11.98	$1.59 MVR24.49	+115.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.65 LSL59.35	$4.58 MVR70.46	+25.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.99 LSL64.86	$6.95 MVR107.00	+74.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.44 LSL23.40	$1.76 MVR27.18	+22.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.68 LSL43.55	$2.82 MVR43.37	+5.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.82 LSL13.27	$1.84 MVR28.31	+125.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.97 LSL15.82	$1.73 MVR26.63	+77.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.18 LSL19.11	$1.96 MVR30.25	+66.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.05 LSL16.99	$1.48 MVR22.83	+41.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.68 LSL11.04	$0.70 MVR10.77	+2.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.70 LSL11.36	$0.55 MVR8.45	-21.6%
Average			+48.6%

Maseru vs. Male - Cost of groceries

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pay 62.3% more for transportation

	Maseru	Male
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.58 LSL74.33	$3.54 MVR54.53	-22.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$28.81 LSL467.99	$28.91 MVR445.28	+0.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,166.39 LSL328K	$32,679.74 MVR503K	+62.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.70 LSL92.66	$17.65 MVR271.76	+209.4%
Average			+62.3%

Maseru vs. Male - Cost of transportation

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pay 6.1 times more for housing

	Maseru	Male
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$32.68 LSL530.79	$81.15 MVR1,249.78	+148.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$145.97 LSL2,371.14	$965.87 MVR14,874.36	+561.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$73.94 LSL1,201.17	$678.10 MVR10,442.81	+817.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$93.30 MVR1,436.78
Average			+509.1%

Maseru vs. Male - Cost of housing

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pay 3.2 times more for childcare

	Maseru	Male
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$49.99 LSL812.11	$165.36 MVR2,546.54	+230.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,133.16 LSL18,407.51	$3,587.42 MVR55,246.24	+216.6%
Average			+223.7%

Maseru vs. Male - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.6 times more for entertainment and sports

	Maseru	Male
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.02 LSL32.76	$4.74 MVR72.97	+135.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.82 LSL29.64	$3.31 MVR50.96	+81.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.90 LSL79.56	$13.07 MVR201.31	+166.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$22.09 LSL358.79	$80.61 MVR1,241.39	+265.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$9.80 MVR150.98
Average			+162.1%

Maseru vs. Male - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 9.3% less for clothing

	Maseru	Male
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$44.17 LSL717.58	$43.03 MVR662.64	-2.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$40.33 LSL655.18	$56.86 MVR875.69	+41.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$101.79 LSL1,653.56	$90.20 MVR1,389.02	-11.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$144.05 LSL2,339.94	$51.74 MVR796.84	-64.1%
Average			-9.3%

Maseru vs. Male - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: June 2026

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